Palestinian refugee Mahmoud Shibabi killed in Yarmouk camp

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian was killed Tuesday in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus as clashes between Syrian regime forces and rebels continued, a Palestinian group said.

Mahmoud Shibabi was killed by shrapnel from a shell that hit the camp, the Taskforce for Palestinians in Syria said in a statement.

Troops loyal to President Bashar Assad engaged in fierce clashes with rebel groups in several areas of the camp. Both sides used heavy weapons, the taskforce said.

The Free Syrian Army has threatened to start a major battle in Yarmouk, calling it the “Storm in the south”, the taskforce said.

According to the taskforce, FSA rebels threatened to target all regime checkpoints in the camp including those on Palestine Street, Nisreem Street, the Tadamun neighborhood, Thirties Street and Yarmouk Street.

“Rebels will clean the southern area of all checkpoints which have been humiliating citizens every day,” the rebel statement said, according to the taskforce.

In a statement Tuesday, the taskforce said Syrian regime troops were harassing Palestinian refugees at army checkpoints, verbally abusing men, women and the elderly on a daily basis.

According to the group, the troops force the residents to stand in a queue then ask a veiled collaborator to look at them and say if they participate in political activities or cooperate with the rebels. The checkpoint is open and closed depending on the soldiers’ mood, the group added.

Meanwhile, residents complained about looting by rebels of the Free Syrian Army who, according to the Taskforce, rob houses and stores at gunpoint.